Cocke County, TN
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Cocke County is a county on the eastern border of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 35,662. Its county seat is
Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...
. Cocke County comprises the Newport, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the Knoxville-
Morristown Morristown may refer to: Places Canada *Morristown, Nova Scotia (disambiguation) United States * Morristown, Arizona *Morristown, Indiana ** Morristown station (Indiana) *Morristown, Minnesota ** Morristown Township, Rice County, Minnesota *Morris ...
- Sevierville, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area.


History

Before the arrival of European settlers, the area that is now Cocke County probably was inhabited by the Cherokee. They were the most recent of a series of indigenous cultures who had occupied this country for thousands of years. The first recorded European settlement in the county was in 1783 when land near the fork of the French Broad and the Pigeon Rivers was cleared and cultivated. The earliest European settlers were primarily Scots-Irish, Dutch, and Germans who came to the area over the
mountains A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...
from the Carolinas or through Virginia from Pennsylvania and other northern states. The county was established by an Act of the
Tennessee General Assembly The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title ...
on October 9, 1797, from a part of Greene County, Tennessee. It was named after
William Cocke William Cocke (1748August 22, 1828) was an American lawyer, pioneer, and statesman. He has the distinction of having served in the state legislatures of four different states: Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi, and was one of t ...
, one of the state's first Senators. Located within the Appalachian and Great Smoky Mountains, it had difficult conditions for early settlers. Like many East Tennessee counties, settled by yeomen farmers, Cocke County was largely pro-Union on the eve of the Civil War. In Tennessee's Ordinance of Secession referendum on June 8, 1861, the county's residents voted 1,185 to 518 against secession.


Geography

According to the
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (1.9%) are covered by water. The southern part of the county is located within the Great Smoky Mountains, and the lands are protected by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The northern part of the county is situated within the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians. The county's highest point is
Old Black Old Black is the nickname given to Neil Young's primary electric guitar. Most of Young's electric guitar work has been recorded using this instrument. Though he has used a variety of different instruments, this Les Paul has remained ubiquitous ...
, which rises to in the Smokies along the county's border with North Carolina.Tennessee County Highpoints
Tennessee Landforms. Retrieved: June 24, 2013. English Mountain, a large ridge that peaks at , dominates the western part of the county. Cocke County is drained by the French Broad River, which traverses the northern part of the county and forms much of its boundary with Jefferson County. A portion of this river is part of Douglas Lake, an artificial reservoir created by
Douglas Dam Douglas Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the French Broad River in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which built the dam in record time in the early 1940s to me ...
further downstream. The Pigeon River flows northward across the county and empties into the French Broad north of Newport at Irish Bottoms.


Adjacent counties

*
Hamblen County Hamblen County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,499. Its county seat and only incorporated city is Morristown. Hamblen County is the core county of the Morristown Metropolitan Sta ...
(north) * Greene County (northeast) * Madison County, North Carolina (east) * Haywood County, North Carolina (south) * Sevier County (southwest) * Jefferson County (northwest)


National protected areas

* Appalachian Trail (part) * Cherokee National Forest (part) *
Foothills Parkway The Foothills Parkway is a national parkway which traverses the foothills of the northern Great Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee, located in the southeastern United States. The 72.1-mile (114 km) parkway will connect U.S. Route 129 (U.S. ...
(part) * Great Smoky Mountains National Park (part)


State protected areas

*Rankin Wildlife Management Area (part) * Martha Sundquist State Forest


Major highways

* * * * * * * * * SR 73


Demographics


2020 census

As of the
2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, there were 35,999 people, 14,060 households, and 9,196 families residing in the county.


2000 census

As of the census of 2000, 33,565 people, 13,762 households, and 9,715 families were residing in the county. The population density was 77 people per square mile (30/km2). The 15,844 housing units averaged 36 per mi2(14/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 96.16% White, 1.99% African American, 0.40% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.33% from other races, and 0.96% from two or more races. About 1.05% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 13,762 households, 29.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.10% were married couples living together, 13.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.40% were not families. About 25.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.87. In the county, the population was distributed as 22.80% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 28.80% from 25 to 44, 26.40% from 45 to 64, and 13.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.80 males. The median income for a household in the county was $25,553, and for a family was $30,418. Males had a median income of $26,062 versus $18,826 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,881. About 18.70% of families and 22.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.80% of those under age 18 and 18.70% of those age 65 or over.


Communities


City

*
Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...
, county seat


Town and Census Designated Place

* Parrottsville * Cosby


Unincorporated communities

* Allen Grove *
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
*
Boomer Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. The ...
* Briar Thicket *
Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnoc ...
* Bybee * Cosby * Del Rio * Hartford * Liberty Hill * Midway * Tom Town * Wasp


Notable residents

*
Ben W. Hooper Ben Walter Hooper (October 13, 1870April 18, 1957), was an American politician who served two terms as the 31st governor of Tennessee from 1911 to 1915. Elected as a Electoral alliance, Fusionist candidate, he was one of just three Republican Part ...
,
governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The governor is the only official in Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state. The current governor is Bill Lee, a ...
from 1911 to 1915 *
Popcorn Sutton Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton (October 5, 1946March 16, 2009) was an American Appalachian moonshiner and bootlegger. Born in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, he grew up, lived and died in the rural areas around Maggie Valley and nearby Cocke County, T ...
, moonshiner * Marshall Teague, actor


In popular culture

The novel '' Christy'' and the television series of the same name are based on historical events, people, and localities of Cocke County. The fictional small town of El Pano, where the novel begins, is based on the existing village of
Del Rio, Tennessee Del Rio is an unincorporated community in Cocke County, Tennessee, United States. Although it is not a census-designated place, the ZIP Code Tabulation Area for the ZIP Code (37727) that serves Del Rio had a population of 2,138, according to th ...
. The fictional Cutter Gap, where most of the plot unfolds, represents the locale now known as Chapel Hollow. Several area landmarks associated with the story are marked for visitors, including the site of the Ebenezer Mission in Chapel Hollow, which is located off the Old Fifteenth Rd., about from Del Rio.


Politics

Like all of Unionist East Tennessee, Cocke County has been overwhelmingly Republican ever since the Civil War. Since the first postwar election in 1868, Cocke County has voted for every Republican presidential candidate, even supporting William Howard Taft during the divided 1912 election. No Democratic presidential candidate has managed to receive forty percent of the county's vote in this time, although Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 1932 landslide got within 0.23 percent of this figure.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Cocke County, Tennessee __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Cocke County, Tennessee. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Cocke County, Tennes ...


References


Further reading

* Goodspeed Publishing Company
"History of Cocke County"
pages 864–867 in ''History of Tennessee'', 1887. Retrieved November 26, 2006. * Walker, E.R. III. ''Cocke County, Tennessee: Pages from the Past''. Charleston: The History Press (2007).


External links


Official site

Cocke County Partnership
– Chamber of Commerce
Cocke County Schools

Cocke County, TNGenWeb
– genealogy resources * {{Coord, 35.93, -83.12, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TN_source:UScensus1990 1797 establishments in Tennessee Populated places established in 1797 Counties of Appalachia Second Amendment sanctuaries in Tennessee East Tennessee